People, People, People!

Today is the Relief Society broadcast! In fact, it's only a few hours from now! I'm quite excited because I get to go to it.

 

We spoke with Duane this past Monday. He is still doing great. He didn't get to go to church, though, because he had some kind of Christian retreat he went to and he got back to late to go. Next time...The missionaries hadn't quite made it to meet with him yet because he was out of town, but I'm hoping that they got to meet with him this week.

 

We're calling Stephanie and Grant tomorrow, so I'm not sure how they're doing since the last time I emailed. I hope that Stephanie gets to watch the Relief Society broadcast!

 

We had a miracle this week at the Humanitarian Center. Mark is a trucker and he drives for a non-profit organization that gets some of its supplies from the Humanitarian Center. So Mark was waiting for his truck to be loaded and in the mean time he took a tour because he loves Humanitarian service. So we took him on the tour and we got a really positive reaction from him about the things that we do there. People might be impressed as we show them the things that the church does, but we don't usually know how impressed they are. Mark let us know. The best part came when we related the programs that the church has (donating wheel chairs, vision care, immunizations, clean water, etc.) to what Christ did as he visited the Americas as it says in 3 Nephi 17:7 -- "Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy." Mark didn't know that Jesus Christ came and visited the Americas so we told him a little about the Book of Mormon and especially that it teaches and testifies of Jesus Christ. When we told him that he said, "well if that's what it's all about, then why are other Christian faiths against you?" We told him that we didn't know and we both smiled inside. I love it when people have amazing realizations as we take them on tours. Mark referred for missionaries! It's the first referral we've gotten in the Humanitarian Center! He's going to be driving for a while, so I don't know how soon missionaries will be able to meet with him, but at least we get to teach him over the phone.

 

Yesterday we had another great tour at Temple Square. When we walked into the North Visitors' Center there was a family that had just asked for a tour: a dad with his two older daughters (they were probably in their late 20s). They were here in Utah on vacation from Toronto, Canada and so they stopped by to visit Temple Square. One of the daughters has a boyfriend that is a member of the church and so they had some exposure to the church previous to coming. We took them to the Christus, the Tabernacle, and the Assembly Hall, and finally to the Conference Center. Naturally the best part was in the Conference Center where we got to take them to the Book of Mormon gallery. They had heard of the Book of Mormon before but didn't really know what it was, so they got to see the pictures of the stories from the Book of Mormon and get to know what it is a little bit. The last picture we showed them was the picture of Mormon and Moroni towards the end of the writings of the Book of Mormon. We explained to them that Mormon (the prophet that compiled the Book of Mormon) saw our day and knew exactly what experiences and testimonies that he could use to help us. We shared with them Mormon 8:35 where Mormon is speaking to us -- "Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing." We explained the the Book of Mormon answers our questions that we have today: why are we here? what happens after we die? How can I keep my family strong? It was a wonderfully powerful moment. The family referred to have missionaries back home in Toronto, and probably the best part is that they already have member support through the daughter's boyfriend! We told them about General Conference too, so they'll probably watch that as well. I love missionary work!